Opinion | From Unbanked To Empowered: The Success Story Of Jan Dhan Yojana
PMJDY has brought the unbanked into the banking system, expanded India’s financial architecture, and brought financial inclusion to almost every adult
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), one of the world’s largest financial inclusion initiatives, currently has over 54.58 crore beneficiaries. More than 2 lakh Bank Mitras have become part of the Jan Dhan Yojana scheme to ensure its reach extends to India’s remotest and poorest regions. The number of PMJDY accounts has grown significantly from 14.72 crore in March 2015. Over 30.37 crore PMJDY account holders are women—accounting for 55.64 per cent of total beneficiaries—while 66.6 per cent of beneficiaries are from rural and semi-urban areas.
As of 14 August 2024, the total deposit balance under PMJDY accounts stood at over Rs 2.31 lakh crore. Additionally, more than 36.14 crore RuPay cards have been issued to PMJDY account holders. The scheme has brought over 80 per cent of Indian women into the financial inclusion fold, increasing women’s bank account ownership from 26 per cent in 2011 to over 78 per cent in 2025. Notably, over 86 per cent of these accounts are active, debunking the Opposition’s claims that PMJDY is a dormant scheme.
related stories
To date, nearly Rs 3.5 lakh crore has been disbursed via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to over 9.8 crore farmers under PM-Kisan, while another Rs 1.72 lakh crore has been disbursed under the PM Fasal Bima Yojana. All of this has been made possible by the Modi government—an achievement of no small measure. Needless to say, Jan Dhan Yojana has played a crucial role in the success of DBT, ensuring that benefits reach their intended recipients without any pilferage.
A robust network of around 13 lakh banking correspondents (BCs), representing the last mile in banking service delivery, has played a pivotal role in enrolling eligible individuals in financial inclusion schemes, including PMJDY.
‘Banking the Unbanked’, the core philosophy of PMJDY, pertains to opening basic savings bank deposit (BSBD) accounts with minimal paperwork, relaxed KYC, e-KYC, account opening in camp mode, zero balance & zero charges. ‘Securing the Unsecured’ pertains to the issuance of indigenous debit cards for cash withdrawals and payments at merchant locations, with free accident insurance coverage of Rs 2 lakh. ‘Funding the Unfunded’ pertains to other financial products like micro-insurance, overdraft for consumption, micro-pension and micro-credit. Jan Dhan accounts are online accounts in the core banking system of banks, in place of the earlier method of offline accounts. Interoperability through RuPay debit cards or Aadhaar-enabled Payment Systems (AePS) has been force multipliers.
The Modi government decided to extend the comprehensive PMJDY program beyond 2018, with some modifications. The focus shifted from ‘Every Household’ to ‘Every Unbanked Adult’. Free accidental insurance cover on RuPay cards was increased from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for PMJDY accounts opened after August 28, 2018. Enhancement in overdraft (OD) facilities was enabled, with OD limit doubled from Rs 5000 to Rs 10,000 and with OD up to Rs 2000 given without conditions. The upper age limit for OD was also raised from 60 to 65 years.
Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched on 28 August 2014 with the objective of ensuring access to various financial services, including basic savings bank accounts, need-based credit, remittance facilities, insurance, micro-credit, and pensions for excluded sections—namely, weaker sections and low-income groups. This deep financial penetration at an affordable cost has been made possible only through the effective use of technology, and for this massive step towards financial inclusion, credit goes to the Modi government.
PMJDY is a national mission on financial inclusion, adopting an integrated approach to ensure the comprehensive financial inclusion of all households across the country. The plan envisages universal access to banking facilities, with at least one basic bank account per household, financial literacy, and access to credit, insurance, and pension services. Additionally, beneficiaries receive a RuPay debit card with an inbuilt accident insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh.
The scheme also aims to channel all government benefits from the Centre, states, and local bodies directly into beneficiary accounts, thereby promoting the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme. Over the past eleven years, technological challenges such as poor connectivity and glitches in online transactions have been effectively addressed, particularly in mobile transactions. In fact, technology has been utilised as a powerful enabler—something that was never meaningfully achieved before 2014.
Furthermore, efforts are being made to engage the country’s youth in this programme on a mission-mode basis.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India lays out three broad outcomes for technology. These are: technology to transform the lives of citizens, to expand economic opportunities, and to create strategic capabilities in certain technologies. Former PM Rajiv Gandhi had said that during his tenure, out of 100 paise of benefits, only 15 paise reached the true beneficiary. The remaining 85 paise was gobbled up by middlemen and sarkari babus.
Thanks to PM Modi’s Digital India, 100 per cent benefits now reach the beneficiary through DBT. The success of this transformation lies in the vision of PM Modi, in the application of technology, by making use of Aadhaar which has plugged all leakages from the system, eradicated middlemen and prevented endemic corruption that was India’s bane under successive Congress regimes, for decades together. Savings made to the public exchequer owing to the use of Aadhaar and DBT, primarily due to weeding out fake and duplicate beneficiaries, have been estimated at over Rs 3.5 lakh crore. Over Rs 40 lakh crore via DBT has already been disbursed to the needy by the Modi government, with PMJDY playing an integral role.
Talking about Aadhaar, over 313 Central government schemes have been notified to use Aadhaar for leak-proof delivery of various social welfare benefits like PM-KISAN, PM Awas Yojana, PM Jan Arogya Yojana, PAHAL, MGNREGA, National Social Security Assistance Programme, PDS, and the like. Aadhaar coupled with PMJDY and Mobile (JAM Trinity) have created a robust platform for accelerating financial inclusion. Aadhaar-enabled payment services are providing easy access to banking services by use of fingerprint authentication.
India has developed tremendous capabilities under the Digital India programme started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ten years ago, in the year 2015. PMJDY has been the foundation stone for people-centric economic initiatives. Whether it is direct benefit transfers, Covid-19-related financial assistance, PM-KISAN, increased wages under MGNREGA, or life and health insurance cover, the first step of all these initiatives is to provide every adult with access to credit, institutional finance and above all, a bank account to start with, which PMJDY has been doing on a war footing.
Jan Dhan scheme provides an avenue for the poor to bring their savings into the formal financial system, remit money to their families in villages, and escape the clutches of infamous, usurious moneylenders. PMJDY has brought the unbanked into the banking system, expanded India’s financial architecture, and brought financial inclusion to almost every adult.
An important aspect is that Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) through PM Jan Dhan accounts has ensured that every rupee reaches its intended beneficiary by preventing systemic leakages. Needless to say, zero tolerance for corruption is not merely a slogan or a platitude but an abiding work ethic for the Modi government, with the concept of ‘Integral Humanism’ embedded in every welfare measure that Prime Minister Modi has tirelessly championed over the past eleven years.
Financial inclusion is a national priority of the Modi government, as it is an enabler for holistic growth. The journey of PMJDY-led interventions undertaken over a short span has, in effect, produced both transformational as well as directional change, thereby making the emerging financial ecosystem capable of delivering financial services to the last person of society and the poorest of the poor.
The underlying pillars of PMJDY, namely ‘Banking the Unbanked’, ‘Securing the Unsecured’ and ‘Funding the Unfunded’ have made it possible to adopt a multi-stakeholders collaborative approach, while leveraging technology for serving the unserved and underserved areas as well. No government in post-independent India has embraced welfarism within the larger framework of a capitalist order as seamlessly as the Modi government and that speaks volumes about PM Narendra Modi’s commitment to a socio-economic order that encourages all the three — egalitarianism, free markets and competition.
While launching PMJDY from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Modi referred to an ancient Sanskrit verse: Sukhasya Moolam Dharma, Dharmasya Moolam Artha, Arthasya Moolam Rajyam—which places the onus on the State to involve people in economic activity. “This government has accepted this responsibility," the Prime Minister had said at the time, over a decade ago.
Needless to say, ten years on, the Modi government has fulfilled this promise in record time, making Jan Dhan Yojana a model of inclusion and empowerment.
Sanju Verma is an Economist, National Spokesperson of the BJP and the Bestselling Author of ‘The Modi Gambit’. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18’s views.
- Location :
- First Published: